On the plate of reviewer No. 1

Usually, when venturing out on a food review assignment, it's all
about being stealthy. The reviewer slips in—unnoticed as anything
more that just another customer—orders a variety of food, forms
an opinion, pays the bill and slips out with the restaurant staff none
the wiser. That's how it's supposed to happen.

That's not how it actually happened when this reviewer attempted to
slip into Eagle's Flame Neapolitan Pizzeria with her favorite dining
companion in tow. Nope, this reviewer was outed. It happened while
trying to surreptitiously take a picture of my lunch to post on
boiseweekly.com as part of our
editor's "what we had for lunch" blog entry. As the camera snapped, I
suddenly had the feeling that I was being watched. And I was. By all
three employees working. I tried to play it off, but ultimately had to
own up when they mentioned the BW photographer had visited the
day before.

Thankfully, it didn't happen until we had received our order, and
even more fortuitously, I didn't have to lie when the eager manager
asked how I liked things. It's hard to lie through a mouthful of some
of the best pizza one has had in a long time.

As the name suggests, Flame specializes in thin-crust
Neapolitan-style pizza. But what sets this small eatery apart is the
use of ingredients like caramelized onions, rosemary, chevre, Cuban
ham, creme fraiche and baby arugula.

Your typical pepperoni pizza this is not, and thankfully so. Sure,
the quintessential pizza topping is available on the build-your-own
portion of the menu, but Flame's unique pizza creations are the reason
to go. This restaurant has one clear focus, evidenced by the fact that
pizza is virtually the only thing on the menu.

Flame is nearly hidden in a strip mall near the River Rock Alehouse
and the Albertsons in Eagle. We should have known better than to trust
a Google map, which had us running around on the other side of town.
After a quick call to the BW office we finally found it.

We snagged a table in the simple, but tasteful interior, where a
line of bench seats runs down the middle of the narrow space. The
effect is overall nondescript, but we hoped the pizza would be more
interesting. We were rewarded for our positive thinking as we attempted
to select a couple of pizzas, available in 7-, 11- and 14-inch
sizes.

First, there was the Barbecue Chicken ($7.99-$14.99). I'm a sucker
for barbecue sauce, so if it's slapped on a pizza, I'll probably try
it. But add grilled chicken, smoked Gouda, red onion, roasted red
pepper and cilantro, and I might cry with joy. The end result met my
already high expectations due in large part to the combination of the
smoked cheese and the barbecue sauce, which had a satisfying bite.

After much waffling, we also chose the Prosciutto and Peach
($8.99-$15.99). Admittedly, the unusual combination of ingredients
listed on the menu was what prompted the choice as we decided to go a
little wild, but it turned out to be the hands-down favorite.

The salty prosciutto was juxtaposed against the sweet and tender
bites of peach and equally sweet caramelized onions. The earthy
crumbled chevre cheese grounded the entire creation, while the
garlic-infused olive oil used on the crust left just a hint flavor. Put
the whole thing on a light, crunchy crust and say "namaste" to pizza
nirvana.

I still can't help but think of those pizzas I didn't choose: the
Idaho Potato ($7.99-$14.99) with Yukon gold potatoes, bacon, green
onion, creme fraiche and garlic-infused olive oil; the Scampi
($8.99-$15) with chili oil, shrimp, pesto, baby arugula and Flame's own
blend of cheeses; and the Bianca with garlic infused olive oil,
mozzarella and rosemary.

The ultimate testament of my approval of Flame became obvious once
we emerged into the harsh light of day. That's when my dining companion
pointed out I still had a bit of barbecue sauce on my face.